


Not Today

by lha



Series: Timings [1]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Dress Uniform, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hiding Medical Issues, M/M, Promotions, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 18:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13981044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lha/pseuds/lha
Summary: Gabriel isn't about to let something as simple as an upset stomach ruin Katrina's big day.





	Not Today

Gabriel left the toilet adjoining his home office and paused on the threshold considering whether he was safe to go any further. This had been his third trip to the bathroom already this morning and it was increasingly clear that not all was well.

“Are you listening Gabe? If I have to come back there and drag you out from behind your desk…” 

“Coming love,” he called in reply. Pressing a hand low down on his stomach taking a deep breath and internally girding his loins, he headed out to meet his wife. “Sorry,” he said, “fighting with this bloody uniform.”

“You do hate dress blues don’t you?” she said, running a hand over his shoulder. 

“They’re not my favourite, however, for you, today - I shall suffer them gladly.”

“You’re going soft Gabe!” she teased, “Admiral Lorca hard man of Starfleet dressing to please his wife.” She leant in to kiss him, but he deftly avoided it by spinning her to face the door.

“His wife who is going to be late for her own promotion ceremony if we don’t get a move on!” Whatever it was that was causing this, if it was contagious then the last thing he wanted was for her to catch it.

It was a short walk from their San Francisco apartment to HQ, which was exactly why Katrina had been so keen on it, claiming that this way he might actually get some fresh air once in blue moon. However short though, Gabriel spent a fair portion of it trying to look like he was listening to his wife while cursing the fact that his body seemed so determined to let him down. He had never been so aware of where all the nearest conveniences were as he was on that trip and by the time they entered the main building to be faced with large numbers of cadets and other officers all in dress uniform, he had plotted out exactly which toilet was closest and how best he could get there. Thankfully, Katrina was swept up by well wishers and with only a subtle gesture of his head and a smile he managed to indicate that he was going elsewhere.

Gabriel disliked crowds at the best of times, but today he was feeling hot and clammy and the last thing in the world he wanted was to be surrounded by other people. Crossing the floor of the entrance hall, he tried not to look like he was on a mission, just in case Katrina caught sight of him. Wending his way through the crowd he greeted several people waving to his former crew in the distance but was determined not to stop and talk. It was a far closer run thing than he liked by the time he made it into a stall and closed the door. Ten incredibly uncomfortable minutes later, with his insides still twisting and gurgling and the air purifying unit straining there was a call over the open comm. 

_‘Would all VIP guests please make their way to the Archer room.’ ___

__Another deep breath and Gabriel stood, cleaned himself up and did his best to straighten his uniform. The mirror above the sinks, wasn’t doing him any favours but he didn’t think that he looked too bad especially given how he was feeling. He just had to keep it together for another few hours. It would be fine. He could do this. For Katrina._ _

__“There you are,” she said as he joined the procession into the highest ranking holding area in the fleet._ _

__“Sorry, I got caught by some cadets, have you seen that Tilly is on today’s roster?” he asked._ _

__“I told you last week that she was getting made up.”_ _

__“It must have been when I wasn’t listening,” he apologised, guiding her through the door with a gentle hand on her back._ _

__“No change there, you’ve been working too hard again.”_ _

__“Not today though,” he said with what he hoped was a supportive smile._ _

__He poured them both water as they passed the refreshment table, handing Katrina a glass before he took a tentative sip of his own. He’d been trying to keep his fluid’s up since he’d woken at dawn, knowing he needed to go to the bathroom urgently. He’d managed to creep out of bed without disturbing Katrina and muffled his discomfort as his body had flushed itself of something it obviously wanted out. He’d hoped then that it had just been one off, a natural purge of something that hadn’t agreed with him. Not feeling inclined to climb back into bed he’d showered and retreated to his study, making Katrina breakfast on a tray for when her alarm went off disguising the fact he’d settled on dry toast. The toast had gone straight through him though, as had everything else he’d tried, and he was about to have sit on stage in front of thousands of people. After a couple of small sips of water but as if on cue his gut spasmed painfully again. “I’m just going to,” he gestured to the discrete toilet in the corner of the room._ _

__This round was less dramatic, but the pain was worse and it took him several moments to manage to get back on his feet. He felt utterly wrung out by it and the lingering discomfort really did’t bode well but he was absolutely not going to be beaten by this._ _

__“Are you ok?” Katrina asked with a frown when he slid into the line beside her._ _

__“Sure,” he said offering her a smile backed by sheer bravado._ _

__“You look a little warm,” she said lifting the back of her fingers to his cheek._ _

__“I'm fine,” he said, redirecting her attention back to the line that had started moving, before leaning in to whisper in her ear, “you can’t blame a man for getting a little hot under the collar when his remarkable wife looks so good in her dress uniform.”_ _

__“Oh shush you,” she said, straightening her tunic, her own cheeks colouring._ _

__“I am so proud of you Katrina,” he said quietly just before the walked on, gripping her hand tightly before he let go their fingers brushing as they walked out._ _

__Whether it was that he had something else to concentrate on or just sheer force of will Gabriel wasn’t certain, but he made it most of the way through the interminable service before he became acutely aware that he would rather be somewhere else. He knew that there couldn’t possibly be anything in his system left to be expelled but his intestines seemed inclined to prove otherwise. Gritting his teeth he was aware that there was cold sweat streaming down his back as he tried desperately not to shift in his seat. Clamping down every muscle he had, he focussed on breathing carefully until finally, finally the wave seemed to pass leaving only the burning discomfort in his gut remaining._ _

__He didn’t really remember anything else about the speeches, the seemingly endless lines of Cadets and up until finally it was Kat’s turn. He stood and clapped with the others marking the last of the promotions and when he was gestured to come forward by the Fleet Admiral had pulled Katrina close to hug her, before letting her once again away buy their colleagues. Using this as an opportunity he drifted away again, managing to escape off the stage and retreat to the nearest bathroom._ _

__It turned out there was more for his body to expel than made any sense to Gabriel, and as he sat there in the grim silence of the stall he was aware of how near a miss he had had. This really wasn’t tenable. There was a drinks reception and a formal lunch still to come and the idea of having to sit through that and even pretend to eat seemed insurmountable. He was aware of time passing and after two aborted attempts to leave he once again realised that he just had to commit. He rinsed his face this time, and tried a cheerful smile to see how convincing it was. Not as convincing as he’d have hoped. He rubbed his cheeks in an attempt to put some colour back into them and straightening his shoulders, headed back into the fray._ _

__The invited guests were still filing in which gave him hope that he wouldn’t have been missed and picking up a champagne flute lifted in salute to Katrina when she caught his eye across the room._ _

__“Imagine seeing you here Admiral,” Hugh said sidling up beside him, “care to swap?” he said casually, holding out a glass of water._ _

__“Have they run out of champagne?” he asked, trying to tamp down on his defensive urges and another spike of pain._ _

__“No, but you look like you could use it,” he said quietly but bluntly, “you went a delightful shade of grey about ten minutes into the ceremony. I’ve got a mint if you’d like one?”_ _

__“No… it’s uh… not that,” he admitted hoping that acknowledging this would perhaps offer him a solution. “Was it that obvious?” he asked watching as Katrina continued to be congratulated._ _

__“She had her back to you,” Hugh pointed out, “and I’m more versed in the varying shades of Gabriel Lorca than most. You do look pretty rough though. Have you seen someone?”_ _

__“No…” he said, shifting as another spasm took him by surprise, “but it only came on this morning. I’m fine really it’s just… inconvenient.”_ _

__“Or it could be something you need to get treated for.”_ _

__“I’m not going to spoil this for her Hugh. This is her big day,” Gabriel said._ _

__“And you think she’s not going to notice if you keel over?”_ _

__“I’m not going to keel over. It’s just an upset stomach which a friendly doctor could give me something for,” he added, pressing firmly against his stomach in an attempt not to bend over in response to the pain. “As long as I don’t need to dash off to the head every five minutes there’s no reason she needs to know anything.”_ _

__“You’re talking about this like she wouldn’t want to know Gabe, which I’m pretty sure she would. She’d certainly not want you miserable, or to be putting your health at risk.”_ _

__“It’s… “he breathed out carefully around another painful twist, “it’s just an upset stomach. Not worth spoiling her day for.”_ _

__“So let’s get you over to medical, they’ll check you out. Give you something to make you feel better and you can be back here before we sit down to eat.”_ _

__“Or, you could just give me something now,” he countered._ _

__“Believe it or not I don’t carry a medkit with me when I’m in my dress whites.”_ _

__“Dereliction of duty, Doctor,” he hissed before thrusting his untouched glass at the other man and turning back to the nearest toilet._ _

__“Katrina?” he asked when he re-emerged five minutes later, refastening his tunic reluctantly._ _

__“Talking to Tilly, so she’ll be distracted for a while longer. You need to come with me though,” Hugh continued, handing him the glass of water purposefully. “It might be a reaction, but it’s more likely you’ve ingested a contaminant or picked up a bug of some sort. If it’s either of the other two then we need to find so no-one who doesn’t have to be gets affected. Or it could be something more serious.”_ _

__“I just…” Gabriel said leaning defeatedly against the wall._ _

__“I know, but she’ll be more upset you’ve let it go on so long. Can you manage to drink some of that?” he asked pointedly. Gabriel made a face but took a sip._ _

__“When did your first symptoms appear?”_ _

__“I don’t know,” Gabriel said defeateledly, “early this morning.”_ _

__“Have you managed to keep anything down?”_ _

__“Down, yes, in… not so much. Can’t you just…”_ _

__“No,” Hugh said firmly, “even if I could, I wouldn’t give you anything until we’ve figured out what’s going on. I’ve seen you working with two broken ribs and a cracked femur and look better than you do at the moment. Now, do you want to tell Katrina that we’re crossing the square to medical, or shall I get Paul to do it?”_ _

__It turned out that this debate was entirely moot as Katrina looked up as Gabriel was watching her. The look on her face, made it quite clear that she’d realised something was amiss as she excused herself from the conversation she was in the middle of and started working her way directly across the room._ _

__“Gabe?” she asked, her hand reaching for his forehead as soon as she was close enough. “You’re burning up,” she said, pulling open the collar of his uniform as she looked to Hugh._ _

__“Gastrointestinal distress, started this morning. I was just about to forcibly march him across to medical.”_ _

__“What were you thinking?” she said, tilting his face up to look at her from where Gabriel had let it fall._ _

__“I’m fine…”_ _

__“We banned that word after the double pneumonia incident,” she said pointedly._ _

__“Really,” he said, trying one last time to pull it back together. “Look, Hugh’s said he’ll take me across you stay here and smooze some more. Some fresh air and something to settle my stomach and I’ll be back in no time.”_ _

__“I’m not staying here while you’re…” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Hugh, would you be good enough to help Gabe in the right direction? I’m going to go and offer our apologies to the Admiral Reed, and I’ll see you by the door?”_ _

__“Come on then,” Hugh said, one hand under Gabriel’s elboc, the other cautiously around his back for which he was unreasonably grateful. Now that they’d got to this point, Gabriel had to admit that the distance between where they were and the entrance to the walk-in medical facility seemed insurmountable._ _

__As it happened, the doctor on duty had taken one look at Gabriel and as good as tied him to a bed. Four hours later, when Hugh and Paul stopped by after the end of proceedings, they found that Gabriel had been admitted._ _

__“We brought you this,” Paul said, handing Katrina a take-away container, “seeing how you missed lunch.”_ _

__“..told her she should have gone…” Gabriel mumbled, from his pleasantly warm and drug induced cocoon._ _

__“Can I?” Hugh asked, presumably gesturing to the PADD at the bottom of his bed._ _

__“Go ahead,” Katrina replied._ _

__“Well they’ve got him on the good stuff,” the doctor said with a mild note of amusement “and they’ve managed to control things?” Gabriel tried not to think about the unpleasant period when they’d stopped one set of symptoms only for him to spend the next hour retching up nothing._ _

__“Pretty much, he’s been mostly sleeping for the last few hours.”_ _

__“Diagnosis?”_ _

__“They think it might be a Katarian parasite that he’s been nursing since he got back last month,” Katrina said sounding tired, “not contagious at least.”_ _

__“Well, at least there’s an upside,” Paul said._ _

__“It’s a wonder he managed as long this morning as he did,” Hugh said, still sounding like he was studying yhe records._ _

__“Gabriel Lorca, My Husband - Determined to The Point of Self-destruction.”_ _

__“Love you,” Gabriel murmured into his pillow and a familiar hand appeared on his head, stroking his hair._ _

__“And I love you too, it’s going to be a while before you bounce back from this one though.”_ _

__“Stomach lining?” Hugh asked_ _

__“Mostly gone, and same for most of the large and small intestines. Looks like the parasite was working quietly and then just evacuated everything.”_ _

__“That sounds about as unpleasant as it comes,” said Paul as something heavy lowered the mattress by his feet and another hand rested on his ankle. It wasn’t pleasant, in fact even through the fog of the painkillers they were pumping him full of he was vaguely aware of the burning pain in his gut but somehow, right now, he couldn’t bring himself to care._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading & I hope you've enjoyed!  
> Always keen to hear your thoughts (or suggestions) here or @LHA_Again  
> Lx


End file.
